Hannover, University, Diss., 2002. / Text engl.

Universiẗat, Diss., 2001--München.

L’origine des éléments volatils, éléments avec des températures de condensation très basses comme l’eau, l’azote, le carbone et les gaz rares, sur Terre et sur les autres planètes telluriques reste mal comprise. Comprendre comment ces éléments sont arrivés sur Terre permettra de mieux appréhender les mécanismes de formation du système solaire. De par leur caractère inerte, les gaz rares (He, Ne, Ar, Kr, Xe) constituent des traceurs uniques des sources d’éléments volatils. L’étude de la composition en gaz rares du manteau terrestre s’avère donc essentielle afin de déterminer l’origine de ces éléments. L’objectif de ces travaux était de mesurer précisément la composition des isotopes stables et non-radiogéniques des gaz rares dans le manteau à partir de verres basaltiques. Ces derniers étant très souvent contaminés par l’air, des techniques d’analyse des gaz rares ont été mises en place pour s’affranchir de cette contamination. Des échantillons du volcan Fernandina du point chaud des Galápagos ont été étudiés par ablation laser. Les résultats montrent que le rapport 20Ne/22Ne des bulles est en moyenne de 12,65 ± 0,04 (1σ), ce qui est proche de la valeur estimée pour le pôle d’implantation du vent solaire (~ 12,7). Cette étude suggère donc que l’implantation du vent solaire sur les grains précurseurs de la Terre serait à l’origine des éléments volatils légers du manteau.Des données d’échantillons de popping rocks, aussi analysés par cette technique, indiquent que le manteau supérieur est hétérogène à petite échelle et pourraient impliquer le recyclage de gaz rares dans le manteau, y compris He, Ne, lors de la subduction. Un nouveau protocole d’analyse du Kr et Xe a été développé. Les résultats montrent les plus forts excès en 124Xe, 126Xe et 128Xe mesurés pour le manteau et suggèrent une source chondritique. Les isotopes fissiogéniques du xénon ont permis de dater le début du recyclage des éléments volatils dans le manteau aux alentours de 3 Ga. / The origin of volatiles, elements with low condensation temperatures such as water, nitrogen, carbon and noble gases, on Earth and other terrestrial planets is still misunderstood. Determining how these elements were delivered to the Earth will allow a better understanding of the processes of solar system formation. Due to their inertness, noble gases (He, Ne, Ar, Kr, Xe) constitute unique tracers of volatiles sources. Studying the noble gas composition of the Earth’s mantle is hence critical to unravel volatile origin. The aim of this PhD was to measure precisely the composition of non-radiogenic, stable noble gas isotopes in the mantle from basaltic glasses. The latter being very often contaminated by air, analytical techniques were thus set up to overcome this contamination.Samples from Fernandina volcano from the Galápagos hotspot were studied with laser ablation. The results show that the mean 20Ne/22Ne ratio in the vesicles is 12.65 ± 0.04 (1σ), close to the estimated value of the solar wind implanted end-member (~ 12,7). This study suggests that light volatiles in the mantle would originate from implantation of solar wind on the Earth’s precursors grains. Data from popping rock samples, also analyzed with this technique, indicate that the upper mantle is heterogeneous at small scale and that noble gases, included He, Ne, could be recycled into the mantle in subduction zones. A new protocol to analyse Kr and Xe was set up. The results show the highest measured excess in 124Xe, 126Xe and 128Xe for the mantle and suggest a chondritic source. The xenon fissiogenic isotopes allowed us to constrain the onset of volatile recycling in the mantle to around 3 Ga.

This study addresses the influences on ridge basalt chemistry, through analysis of their major and trace element and isotopic composition at scales ranging from individual ridge segments to the entire length of the ridge system. Local-scale studies of basalts along the Mid-Atlantic Ridge shed light on crustal accretion at slow-spreading ridges, and on the nature of plume-ridge interaction in this region. We show that segments must have multiple supplies of magma delivered along their length, but with preferential delivery of magma to segment centers. Plume-ridge interaction near the Azores is not simple two- component mixing between “plume” mantle and “depleted” mantle as previously argued. The elevated highly incompatible trace element ratios possessed by basalts well south of the plume are the definitive sign of a low-degree melt, which can fractionate highly incompatible element ratios. We show that a low-degree melt of plume mantle acts to metasomatize ambient depleted mantle, creating a mixed source that melts to produce the enriched basalts south of the Azores. This metasomatized source is the enriched mixing component that produces the observed geochemical gradient, rather than bulk plume mantle. The latter half of this study is global in scope, involving a carefully compiled ridge basalt geochemical database. This database is unparalleled in size and coverage – including data from portions of the Gakkel and Southwest Indian Ridges and Lau basin that were unavailable in prior data compilations. It includes a catalog of 771 global ridge segments, enabling the calculation of mean MORB by averaging the “segment means”, including weighting on segment length and spreading rate and a quantitative treatment of errors. We show that the mean composition of ocean ridge basalts is more enriched than previously suggested, and argue for a re-definition of “normal MORB”. Segment basalt compositions are individually corrected for crystal fractionation, arriving at parental magma compositions that can be interpreted in terms of mantle processes. The fractionation-corrected mean segment compositions correlate with ridge depth, and with each other, in a manner that is consistent with control by mantle temperature variations. Mantle compositional heterogeneity is also seen, but appears to be a second-order effect. / Earth and Planetary Sciences

University, Diss., 2002--Kiel.

University, Diss., 2003--Bremen.

No description available.

Tectonic windows are faulted escarpments that expose extensive sections of <em>in situ</em> oceanic crust, providing valuable opportunities to examine upper crustal architecture from a perspective unmatched by other approaches. Recent investigations of tectonic windows by submersible (<em>Alvin, Nautile</em>) and remotely-operated vehicle (<em>Jason II</em>) have recovered an unprecedented suite of dikes and lavas. We focus on compositions of dikes and lavas from intermediate- and super-fast rate crust exposed, respectively, in the Western Blanco Transform (BT) fault and the Pito Deep Rift (PD), to better understand accretionary processes at mid-ocean ridges. In the BT, the upper lavas are generally more primitive than the lower lavas, supporting geophysical and geological studies that suggest off-axis volcanism plays an important role in constructing the upper crust at intermediate-rate spreading centers. The wide range in lava compositions exposed along the BT scarp also lends caution to studies that rely on surface lavas to determine the evolution of sub-axial magmatic conditions.The PD suite allows us to examine accretionary processes over an impressive temporal range, including long-term (millions of years) changes in mantle composition and medium-rate (100s of ka) changes in magmatic regime. Compositions of adjacent dikes reveal that the ocean crust is heterogeneous on short time (<10>ka) and spatial (meters) scales, reflecting along-axis transport of magma from chemically heterogeneous portions of the melt lens. High compositional variability was also observed in adjacent dikes from Hess Deep (HD), a tectonic window into fast-rate crust, suggesting that lateral dike intrusion occurs at all mid-ocean ridges. PD lavas are offset to lower density compositions compared to dikes, an observation previously made in HD, but made here for the first time in other dike-lava populations, suggesting that buoyancy plays a major role in partitioning magma between dikes and lavas. A model for intrusion of a single dike shows that crustal density, magma pressure, and tectonic stress affect the intensity of density-based magma partitioning in a systematic way that can be related to compositions of dike-lava populations. / Dissertation

This study aims to reveal the geochemical signatures of the basic igneous rocks with well-determined age within the Karakaya Complex in Central and NW Anatolia and also exhibit the relationships between the studied units in terms of geological and petrographical features. The Karakaya Complex comprise a number of tectono-stratigraphic units in the studied regions (the Olukman Melange, the Bah&ccedil / ecik Formation, the Ortaoba Unit and the informally named pillow basalt-limestone association) and the pre-Karakaya basement unit (the Eymir Complex). The basic igneous rocks have been all intensely affected by hydrothermal metamorphism as reflected by the secondary products strongly overprinting the primary mineral phases and most of them exhibit vesicular structures which are filled by mainly calcite. The primary mineral assemblage dominating the basaltic rocks is clino-pyroxene, plagioclase and olivine, whereas secondary phases are characterized by actinolite, pistacite, zoisite/clinozoisite group and chlorite. Kaersutite, as a late stage magmatic mineral, is distinctive for Ti-augite bearing imrahor basalts / on the other hand, the diabase dykes include hornblende as an essential primary phase. The basic rocks are represented by three groups / sub-alkaline, alkaline and transitional. The alkaline samples from imrahor, Hasanoglan, Kadirler and Ortaoba are of Anisian age and akin to oceanic-island basalts (OIB). The sub-alkaline and transitional samples from imrahor and Ortaoba reflect P-MORB features and are younger than the first group. The diabase dykes cross-cutting the Eymir Complex, on the other hand, are too dissimilar, indicating back-arc basin signatures. Based on the data obtained from this study, the Karakaya Complex is characterized by a number of tectonic components (seamount, plume-related mid ocean ridge and back-arc basin) with different ages and origins, which were later amalgamated during the Cimmerian orogeny.

Novel techniques for in-situ lead isotope analysis of melt inclusions using multicollector inductively coupled plasma mass spectrometry, and parallel Faraday cup and ion counter detection have been developed. These provide for measurement of the critical 204Pb isotope, which has been unavailable in melt inclusion Pb isotope studies, but requires on-line determination of 200Hg to correct for 204Hg isobaric interferences. External standardisation allows for effective mass fractionation correction and ion counter gain calibration. An off-line Tau correction was applied and standard glass analyses suggest that this correction provides more accurate and precise results.